“Kshitiz Chand of Nepal, who was the co-pilot in the ill-fated passenger plane that crashed in Philippines Saturday night, was been missing along with secretary of the Philippines’s Interior Ministry Josse Robredo and plane’s caption and airlines CEO Jessup Bahinting.

“Search for the missing people have been going on since the crash but media reports suggested that chances of finding them alive were almost none. Personal details of co-pilot Chand were not immediately available.The passenger plane, trailing smoke from its left engine, plunged into Manila Bay and broke in two shortly after taking off from the Philippine capital, killing at least 14 of 34 people aboard.

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“Sixteen people were rescued while four remained unaccounted for as navy frogmen dived into waters around 11 metres (six fathoms) deep for others believed trapped in their seats in the plane, reports said quoting Philippines government officials.

“Amateur video footage showed a trail of smoke from the left engine on the high-winged Fokker 27 plane just before it crashed into the bay, after taking off from Manila for the gambling centre of Laoag, 400 km (250 miles) north of the capital.

“The plane crashed about one km (half a mile) from shore three minutes after take-off from Manila on a one-hour flight to Laoag, the Air Transport Office said.

“Several of the dead were children, including an 11-year-old boy whose body was found still bound to his seat. The plane carried 29 passengers and five crew.”